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16/10/2026

🌭 An international and QIMR Berghofer study has found no overall association between total ultra-processed food intake and bowel cancer risk in a cohort of nearly half a million US adults. However, further analysis of specific food groups showed that meat from ultra-processed food (UPF) sources was associated with higher bowel cancer risk, but whole grains, fibre, dairy and calcium from UPF sources were associated with lower risk. This is in line with existing dietary guidance for bowel cancer prevention.

🗨️ UNSW, Flinders University, University of the Sunshine Coast and Adelaide University experts have responded to the research.

✨Follow the link to read the full expert reaction✨
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/study-shows-not-all-ultra-processed-foods-are-created-equal-when-it-comes-to-bowel-cancer-risk

15/10/2026

💉 Long-term use of anabolic-androgenic steroids has been linked to serious consequences for the heart, say Norwegian researchers who followed up with weightlifters for 10 years. They found that men who used anabolic steroids while doing strength training had sustained thickening of their hearts' left ventricular wall, as well as their hearts becoming worse at pumping blood around their bodies due to this thickening. They say as many as 17% of the men they studied who continued using steroids had severely reduced heart function. However, the researchers say this could be reversed if the men stopped using the steroids and stayed off of them over the long term.

✨Follow the link for more information on this story✨
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/juicing-linked-to-serious-heart-damage-in-weightlifters

14/10/2026

Seth Westhead from The Kids Research Institute Australia dropping some wisdom on the latest Off Embargo episode.

Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts!

https://smc.org.au/off-embargo

Made possible through a Science Engagement Grant from Inspiring South Australia

🦕 A fossil overlooked in a UK museum collection for nearly 100 years has been identified as a new species of meat-eating...
13/10/2026

🦕 A fossil overlooked in a UK museum collection for nearly 100 years has been identified as a new species of meat-eating dinosaur, the first of its group in Europe. Researchers used CT scans to examine a skull fragment and compared it with those of other dinos, identifying the species, which is possibly related to the Tyrannosaurus rex. Their analysis suggests these predators lived across much of the world around 120 million years ago, before disappearing from northern regions. The study cannot explain why they disappeared, but the findings show how studying old museum collections can help scientists piece together where ancient animals lived, the researchers say.

✨Follow the link for more information on this story✨
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/forgotten-fossil-revels-new-dinosaur-species

13/10/2026

👩‍🦳 Menopause-related changes to the body may happen suddenly, rather than being a gradual part of aging, a new study shows. Researchers analysed the results of over 300 million lab tests - for bone health, liver and kidney function, the immune system, and more. Around the time of menopause, the results of more than half of the tests tended to suddenly shift for women, whereas changes happened gradually in men. However, the size of the sudden changes was smaller in women taking menopausal hormonal therapy. The researchers also found that levels of reproductive hormones started changing over a decade before women's periods stopped.

🗨️ University of the Sunshine Coast, The University of Melbourne, and Macquarie University experts have responded to the research.

✨Follow the link to read the full expert reaction✨
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/menopause-linked-to-physiological-cliff-across-the-body

12/10/2026

🤕 People with Long COVID have different types and amounts of bacteria in their mouths and lungs, a new study finds. Researchers looked at bacteria in the saliva and mucus of over 700 people who had been in hospital with COVID, finding differences between those who had recovered by 6 months later and those with Long COVID. Symptoms like brain fog, and lung and gut problems were also linked to different bacteria. Increases in some types of bacteria were linked to signs of inflammation in the patients' blood. The differences could be a cause or a result of Long COVID, but the researchers hope they could help explain Long COVID and find new ways to treat it.

✨Follow the link for more information on this story✨
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/long-covid-linked-to-changes-in-bacteria-in-the-mouth-and-lungs

09/10/2026

🤔 Monday's episode of Off Embargo features an interview so interesting we had to make it extra long!

⏱️ But don't worry, it's still under 30 minutes!

🎧 Catch this special episode wherever you get your podcasts!

https://smc.org.au/off-embargo

09/10/2026

🔥 British colonisation left the Australian landscape more prone to burning, amplifying the influence of climate change and propelling Australia’s bushfire crisis, according to new Australian research being published in Nature. The research reconstructed the past 1000 years of vegetation, fire and erosion in Croajingolong National Park in East Gippsland, Victoria, one of southeastern Australia's most fire-prone forests. The team, which included the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, found that prior to British colonisation, Indigenous land management maintained a stable, open woodland ecosystem through frequent, fine-grained, low-temperature cultural burning. But colonial disruption has increased fire temperatures, soil erosion, and eucalypt cover, and transformed the open woodland into forest.

🗨️ University of Tasmania and The University of Melbourne experts have responded to the research.

✨Follow the link to read the full expert reaction✨
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/briefing-alert-australias-current-bushfire-crisis-linked-to-british-colonisation

08/10/2026

💉 Having an HPV jab before pregnancy is linked with a reduced risk of major pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, and vaccination at an earlier age is most effective, according to Swedish and Norwegian research. The team looked at records of more than 600,000 births among Swedish women aged 16-35, around 90,000 (15%) of whom had received the HPV jab before pregnancy. After accounting for factors including smoking, mum's weight, and income and education levels, they found the HPV vaccination reduced the chances of adverse outcomes, particularly for preterm and very preterm birth, spontaneous preterm birth, preterm or prelabour rupture of membranes, and delivering a severely small baby. Women who were vaccinated before age 17 were the least at risk, they say. Although this type of study can't prove the jab caused the improvements seen, the authors say their findings suggest the HPV vaccine is safe for pregnant women and likely reduces the risk of adverse birth outcomes, especially if administered early.

✨Follow the link for more information on this story✨
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/hpv-vaccination-before-pregnancy-may-lower-risk-of-preterm-birth-and-other-major-complications

07/10/2026

😸 Eevee and Pikachu help us explain our most popular story ever

🤔 Find out why we needed their help on the latest episode of Off Embargo

🎧 Wherever you get your podcasts

https://smc.org.au/off-embargo

Written, hosted and produced by Olivia Henry and Steven Mew, Australian Science Media Centre

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Made possible through a Science Engagement Grant from Inspiring South Australia

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